Beatles News
Director Peter Jackson’s recently released documentary series, The Beatles: Get Back, has prompted debate around the Fab Four’s legacy as pioneers of popular music.
Fifty-two years following the Beatles’ breakup, it’s worth examining what made their vocal harmonies and arrangements so innovative and enduring. But understanding the Beatles requires context; it requires understanding the era in which they bloomed.
Still reeling from the Second World War, the U.K. in the 1950s was draped with a dreary aura that permeated most facets of life and culture. While war-time rationing persisted and unemployment soared, rock-and-roll was still inchoate. In its primal state, pop music was channeled by such American artists as Buddy Holly, Elvis, and Check Berry; in Britain, reams of angsty teenagers still looked for a cultural unifier.
Source: Harry Khachatrian/ washingtonexaminer.com
Taking a trip down memory lane on the Fab Four and their cinematic endeavours
Fans and music buffs alike have been flocking to their streaming service to check out Peter Jackson’s take on the world’s most famous band. Whether you love the mini series or would rather watch Magical Mystery Tour on repeat, it’s hard to deny that Get Back is fuelling the Beatles conversation yet again. If you’ve found yourself transported back to 1964 and want to bask in the glory of Beatlemania for a little while longer, taking a trip down memory lane with the band’s own endeavours into cinema is the perfect place to start.
Source: mixdownmag.com.au
George Harrison‘s son, Dhani Harrison, remastered songs from the former Beatle’s album All Things Must Pass. During an interview, Dhani said one of the songs from All Things Must Pass made him cry. Dhani also revealed that his mother, Olivia Harrison, had a strong reaction to the same song. All Things Must Pass was the first famous album George released after the breakup of The Beatles. It has some similarities to the music of The Beatles’ folk period. During an interview with Guitar World, Dhani said his father may have wanted to capture the sound of certain Beatles songs in All Things Must Pass.
Source: cheatsheet.com
Phil Collins has opened up about a feud with Paul McCartney – revealing how his encounter with The Beatles legend left a long-lasting grudge.
This week saw the former Genesis turned solo star announce his live return with the ‘Not Dead Yet’ tour of Europe and the UK – but not before he revealed why he dislikes a certain ex-Beatle so much.
“I met him when I was working at the Buckingham Palace party back in 2002,” he told The Sunday Times. “McCartney came up with Heather Mills and I had a first edition of The Beatles, by Hunter Davies, and I said, ‘Hey, Paul, do you mind signing this for me?’” he told the paper. “And he said, ‘Oh, Heather, our little Phil’s a bit of a Beatles fan.’ And I thought, ‘You fuck, you fuck.’ Never forgot it.”
Collins added: “He has this thing when he’s talking to you, where he makes you feel [like], ‘I know this must be hard for you because I’m a Beatle. I’m Paul McCartney and it must be very hard for you to actually be holding a conversation with me.’”
Source: Andrew Trendell/nme.com
As an anthem of peace, the song has been sung time and again by different people at various events since its release in 1971.
Pop stars from Elton John and Stevie Wonder to Liza Minnelli and Madonna have sung their own versions of the song.
When people gathered on the streets of Paris after the 2015 terrorist attack, a man played the song on a piano decorated with a symbol of peace.
Bored after self-isolation during Covid-19, 'Wonder Woman' Star Gal Gadot got together a star-studded cast for a sing-along of the masterpiece, while students of Melbourne wrote their own version of this song during the pandemic.
A pre-recorded version of the song was performed at the Tokyo Olympics.
One can’t imagine the greatness of this song written 50 years ago that still resonates with so many and is relevant to today’s times.
Source: Stanley Carvalho/deccanherald.com
George Harrison turned an OBE down in 2000 after Paul McCartney was awarded a knighthood - with his friend claiming it was 'extremely insensitive'
Deciding who gets onto the New Year's Honours List must be a trick process - and often causes tension.
Many people dream of receiving an honour from The Queen, but there have been a number of famous faces over the years who have turned it down.
Perhaps the most controversial of all time involved the Beatles - with one member returning their honour and another declining his because he felt 'insulted'.
All four members of the legendary band, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, were awarded an MBE in 1965.
They were nominated by then Prime Minister Harold Wilson, but controversy erupted due to the honour primarily being bestowed on military veterans and civic leaders at the time.
Source: Kyle O'Sullivan/mirror.co.uk
The Beatles had many idols. They had their own personal influences, but one of their most significant inspirations was a particular Motown singer. The Beatles said he was “God in their eyes” and inspired a couple of their earliest songs and beyond.
If you’ve listened to any of The Beatles’ earlier records, you know that they harmonized excellently. That’s because they learned from the best; Smokey Robinson.
According to Rolling Stone, Paul McCartney once said, “Smokey Robinson was like God in our eyes,” and you can tell they thought that on those early records. “Nowhere was Robinson’s divine presence more felt than on With the Beatles,” Rolling Stone wrote.
With the Beatles features the band’s cover of “You Really Got a Hold on Me” and songs like John Lennon’s “Not a Second Time” and “All I’ve Got to Do,” which John once described as “me trying to do Smokey Robinson.”
Source: cheatsheet.com
On New Year’s Day, 1962, two bands auditioned for Decca Records in London. The company had been scouting for a new act that would appeal to the younger crowd. After hearing both bands, the executives decided on Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, a 1960s beat band whose later hits would include a cover of “Twist and Shout.”
Explaining their decision to the other band’s manager, Brian Epstein, the record executives reasoned that “guitar groups were on the way out.”
While Epstein continued seeking a record label for his Liverpudlian quartet, the band members — John, Paul, George, and Ringo— were themselves dispirited and close to calling it quits.
Source: Pankaj Tripathi/globalcirculate.com
A half-century ago, The Beatles reigned supreme in the heyday of AM radio and rec room hi-fi turntables. Like many youngsters who were another decade or so away from scoring a driver’s license, I lived and breathed in anticipation of hearing the newest release from the 20th century’s greatest musical group.
As a preteen listening to the album “Let It Be” — played ad nauseam in my bedroom in a cookie-cutter American suburb of Seattle, to be a fly on the wall of the studio where the original supergroup fashioned its iconic songs was my unattainable dream. The Beatles were superhuman and as mythical as Superman and Santa Claus.
Source: Bob Smith/bainbridgereview.com
Dick James, the Beatles’ original music publisher, gets an icy reception in a scene in Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary. In that scene (Part 1, around 27:00), you sense a scent of resentment, chilling the humor, killing the vibe. It’s the “suit” in the room, the one who, with Brian Epstein in 1963, had easily convinced Lennon and McCartney to sign over their copyrights to all of their Beatles songs, including ones not yet written.
How the Beatles signed away their publishing – a year before they blasted off globally – was unusual then as now. Neither a straight copyright purchase nor a co-publishing deal, James creatively set up Northern Songs as a copyright holding company that he would own with “the boys.” James and his accountant reportedly ended up with 50%, John and Paul received 20% each, and Epstein took 10%.
Source: Bill Hochberg/forbes.com
